When it comes to roster moves to get down to the 53-player limit, this year was more eventful than usual for the Miami Dolphins, a nice reflection on the improved collection of talent they’ve assembled.
But which moves were the most noteworthy?
While the move right at the top should be obvious, there were other significant developments, both among those who were cut and those who made the roster.
Here then is our Top 10 of biggest roster decisions:
1. Byron Jones Goes on Reserve/PUP
This one was both stunning and potentially damaging, given Jones’ importance to the defense. The move was a stunner because head coach Mike McDaniel has expressed optimism in his media sessions all. along that Jones actually might be ready for Week 1 of the regular season. Now, he won’t be able to play until at least Week 5.
2. Skylar Thompson Makes the Team
This isn’t the first time the Dolphins have kept a third quarterback on the initial 53-man roster (they actually kept four in 2018), but this one was different because it pretty much looked like a case of a young player giving the team no choice but to keep him. And because he plays quarterback, that he always magnifies any move involved.
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3. Michel Doesn’t Make the Cut
In terms of name recognition, this was the biggest one for the Dolphins this year. Michel not only was a former first-round pick, he also won Super Bowls with both the Patriots and the Rams. The idea he wouldn’t make the team seemed silly when he signed, but it certainly wasn’t anymore at the conclusion of the preseason.
4. Williams and Bowden Let Go
There’s always been this fascination among Dolphins fans regarding both players, with Williams because of what he did as a rookie free agent in the first half of the 2019 season and with Bowden because he was a third-round pick and he flashed good open-field skills as a rookie in 2020. But the reality is that neither player making the roster was not a surprise in the final analysis.
5. Conner Makes It Five Tight Ends
We’re heard for a while the Dolphins were really high on this converted wide receiver from Idaho State the team signed as a rookie free agent, and the proof came when they kept him on the 53 when they easily could have put him on injured reserve considering he’s been nursing a knee injury bad enough to require a brace, though that would have sidelined him for the entire season.
6. The Kindley Cut
This was significant because Kindley was a fourth-round pick just two years ago and he started 13 games as a rookie. While he became somewhat of an afterthought last year, it looked like he performed well enough this summer to have earned a roster spot.
7. Kohou Makes It At Cornerback
Conner wasn’t the only rookie free agent to make the 53-man roster, but Kohou earned a spot might have been even more impressive considering he played at Division II Texas A&M-Commerce. Kohou certainly never looked during training camp like he didn’t belong, but it still was noteworthy that he made the team.
8. Keeping Five Running Backs
We’d probably suggest that few would have expected Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed to end up on the 53-man roster after the offseason acquisitions of Raheem Mostert, Chase Edmonds and Michel, but that’s exactly how it played out after the Dolphins decided to go with four halfbacks plus fullback Alec Ingold.
9. Keeping Five Wide Receivers
While we weren’t sure the Dolphins would keep five running backs because that’s a high number, the opposite was true for the wide receivers because five is usually the minimum and the Dolphins had plenty of viable options beyond the top group of Hill, Waddle, Wilson, Sherfield and Ezukanma.
10. Goode-Bye
The Dolphins had only four picks in the 2022 NFL draft, but they clearly did a good job of selecting because they clearly got something with Skylar Thompson. And we’d make the argument the other seventh-round pick, Cameron Goode, should have made the team as well and it actually was noteworthy that he did n’t based on his summer performance.
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